Demeter
As a goddess of agriculture, Demeter is a benevolent nature goddess who cares for the environment and the living beings that dwell within it, including mortals. Demeter is all about balance and is usually very level-headed and fair. She can easily befriend folk of all personalities and when in an area rich with ambient life energy, Demeter is known to be quite the flirtatious tease. History Early Life As the Titans' influence and power grew, as mortals began to spread their legend across the land, the Titans no longer wished to spend time among the mortals and wished to dwell in the 'Haven', the impressive transdimensional residence and research station that Ouranos and Gaia had built for themselves atop Mt. Othrys. So to this end, the Titan Rhea discovered a way to extract the essence of the most powerful Titan, Kronos, and bestow that essence upon six of Kronos' most loyal mortal followers: Zeus, Hera, Poseidon, Demeter, Hades, and Hestia. The Titans’ first endowments of power were to Hestia & Hades, both were given responsibilities to serve the Titans’ interests as the caretaker of their Haven and spymaster, respectively. Such shows the selfish, greedy nature of the Titans. They did not act to create a steward for their mortal subjects until they chose Demeter fit to have their third gift. The shaman Demeter was made to be a demonstrator and given powers of nature, so that she could work miracles in the land of mortals to demonstrate the power of the Titans. These feats were usually teaching the people of a tribe to farm instead of forage or helping care for the sick and injured. Simple acts for a being of her power, but it endeared her greatly to the people. However, one by one, the six began to realize that their physical existence and metaphysical empowerment gave them potential that exceeded the Titans' own power. The first to realize this was Hestia and when she shared her findings, she was imprisoned in Tartarus, the dimensional prison that held Gaia. Demeter had engaged in a relationship with Poseidon early on and it was for this reason (and her deep love for mortals) that Kronos’ paranoia saw to it that Demeter be locked away in Tartarus. Persephone, Demeter’s firstborn, was born in Tartarus and both goddesses took advantage of their time imprisoned, learning many of Gaia’s secrets of Earth’s natural ways. In the outside world, Zeus' escapades started producing followers that flocked to Zeus' secret refuge to join his cause in ever increasing numbers. Without his steward spreading his tale, Kronos' power began to wane as Zeus discovered that he was becoming more powerful as his own legend increased. When Zeus' powers had grown able to rival a Titan's, Zeus decided to make a strategic strike against the Titans. Leading his children and some key allies in a raid, Zeus broke into Tartarus and freed his spirit brothers and sisters, and for the first time, met his daughter Athena. But Zeus likewise discovered that his first wife, Metis, was unable to leave Tartarus due to her Titan physiology having bound her to the prison dimension's reality and was unable to exist in Earth's own reality. They had planned to free Gaia as well, but Metis insisted they should not do that. Having been freed from Tartarus, Demeter was instrumental in helping turn the support of the mortal subjects away from the Titans and toward Demeter and her kind. Poseidon proposed marriage many times to Demeter while preparing for battle, though she preferred to remain untethered to one person despite the strong love for each other. Following this event, to secure the loyalties of the sea nymphs and unite the Nereid and Oceanid clans, Poseidon went against his romantic pursuit of Demeter and married Amphitrite. When the heavily injured Ares and Hephaestus returned to camp with word of Hera's capture, the gods decided that the time they had been waiting for was now. And so, to rescue Hera, the Gods rallied their allies and made an assault on Othrys. In the melee, a great deal of ichor and blood was shed. There were gods whose names were lost to history that died on that battlefield, but in the end, the three brothers of Zeus, Poseidon, and Hades took down their creator. Rise of the New Gods By the end of the usurpation, Demeter’s cult had grown so large she was as powerful as Zeus, perhaps more so even. Yet, Demeter did not contest Zeus’ claim to the throne, having little taste for the Haven and its games, preferring to wander on the Earth with her daughter, free of the confining walls that reminded her too much of Tartarus. This desire to remain unbound by the confines of responsibilities that interfered with her work led her to having the occasional affair with Zeus, a handsome farmer like Iasus, or even the occasional Amazon or bawdy barmaid (if she was so inclined). Perhaps it was this reason why Demeter became so furious upon discovering the brewing love between her own daughter and Hades. Following the division of power, Hades began a secret affair with Persephone, having fell in love while they were gathering intelligence against the Titans. As a result of the eclectric paradigm of power, Persephone was able to continue their secret affair until the two decided to be married. Demeter was quite upset over the matter and for a time, Persephone nearly gave up on the whole relationship citing that as a goddess of nature, her place was on Earth. In her fury, Demeter told Zeus that Hades had kidnapped Persephone. Fortunately, the truth of it did come out and Demeter has made peace with it. Elysium On Elysium, Demeter fell in love with its natural beauty and helped it prosper further by creating new flora and fauna inspired by Earth. Following the death of his wife, Poseidon needed something else to fill that void and he turned to exploring the vast wilderness of Elysium, occasionally stopping to lay waste to pockets of infidels or mourn the memory of Amphitrite at the shrine he built out of broken ships for her on the shores of Atlantis. Lately, Demeter has been visiting Atlantis often to comfort him. Role in NeOlympus Abilities Elder Goddess: '''The third being endowed with Titanic essence and made immortal, Demeter was given the ability to work wonders on the Titans’ behalf and to serve as a surrogate to the imprisoned Gaia. '''Mother of Nature: '''By decree of the Six, Demeter filled the position left vacant due to necessary abandonment of Gaia on Earth. As the new overseer of nature, Demeter supervises the many nymphs, spirits, satyrs, and other caretakers of Elysium that look to her for guidance. '''Goddess of Fertility: '''Her first gift from the Titans, Demeter can enrich organic matter with essence, restoring its vigor. With this ability, she can instantly heal minor ailments, cure impotence or infertility, and get an overall sense of the general health of all beings in her locality. '''Goddess of the Harvest: '''Demeter can restore withered crops, bestow resilience upon fields, sense the agricultural needs of a community, and cause seeds to sprout before your eyes. She can also give insightful knowledge of both agriculture and horticulture upon a mortal mind through touch (which she calls ‘sowing the seeds of wisdom’). '''Goddess of Laws: '''Often overshadowed by Athena (as Goddess of Justice) and Zeus (God of Authority), Demeter is the Goddess of Laws, both natural and mortal. As such, Demeter is intrinsically is aware of legal systems and practices in her area. She is not without mercy, however, and has the right to issue divine decrees of pardon, striking all violations from a mortal‘s records, in Elysium and in the Underworld. '''Goddess of Motherhood: '''Demeter is able to sense maternal connections, literal and spiritual, that bind beings. Further, she can sense when a woman is pregnant and can telepathically communicate with her own children at will. '''Keeper of the Cornucopia: Once used to feed Demeter and her kindred before they required Ambrosia and Nektar, this horn of plenty can be used by any being with essence to conjure any mortal form of nourishment. Relationships While Demeter engages in several casual affairs, her most significant relationship is with Poseidon. Poseidon: The father of her child, the two became intimate while serving under the Titans, resulting in the birth of Persephone while in prison. While there was a strong love between the two, Demeter never wanted a committed relationship and thus turned down his marriage proposal several times. Now in Elysium, Demeter visits Atlantis quite often to comfort the grieving Poseidon. Persephone: Demeter and Persephone share an extremely close relationship. Demeter was devastes when Persephone had married Hades in secret, so much so that she told Zeus Hades had kidnapped Persephone. She eventually got over it and the two resumed their close relationship. Trivia * In Greek Mythology, Demeter was the biological child of Kronos and Rhea. She grew up to have affairs with her brothers Poseidon and Zeus. In NeOlympus, the incest is avoided by making the Eldest Gods spiritual siblings, so there is no biological relationship, and the affairs with his own children are completely cut out. * Like the rest of the Gods, Demeter does not have a set sexuality. However, she seems to have a preference for women. * In Mythology, Persephone was the daughter of Demeter and Zeus. In NeOlympus, she's the daughter of Demeter and Poseidon. * In Mythology, Hades kidnapped Persephone and forced her into marriage by trapping her in the Underworld. In NeOlympus, that was just a lie told by Demeter in her rage. Category:Elder Gods Category:Olympians Category:Principal Pantheon